(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the technical field of apparel storage devices. More particularly, the present invention is in the technical field of storage devices for headwear.
(b) Background Art
Fashionable headwear is as much a part of Western fashion as are shoes, ties and suits. Baseball style caps have become increasingly popular over the generations. The precursor to the modern baseball cap was introduced to America as early as 1860 by the Brooklyn Excelsiors. By the turn of the twentieth Century, the Brooklyn style baseball cap had become popular among Americans. Early baseball caps were rather flimsy until Latex started being used to stiffen such hats giving birth to the modern baseball cap somewhere in the 1940s. Baseball caps are generally characterized by having an extended bill or brim in the front designed specifically to keep the sun out of the wearers eyes. In addition, modern baseball caps generally have a mesh material covering the back half or so of the garment to allow for air flow. Further, these hats generally have some means of adjusting the size of the hat in the back—usually either a plastic or hook and loop adjustment structure that allows the wearer to comfortably adjust the fit of the garment.
Baseball caps have become increasingly popular since their introduction and this style of headwear is probably the most popular style of headwear among Americans, particularly younger Americans, since more “formal” looking hats started to go out of style in the 1960s. These days, this style of headwear is used to feature a lot more than baseball team logos and can be used as marketing memorabilia, aka merchandising tools, for a whole host of endeavors from political campaigns to movie and video game promotions. There are a variety of reasons that cap enthusiasts wear this type of garment; for example, to complete a causal ensemble, to support a favorite team or cause and/or to cover up ones hair on a “bad hair day.”
Cap enthusiasts often develop a collection of caps which will bring with it the problem of storing and displaying the caps. Currently, there are a number of devices on the market that are designed to store baseball caps, but none of them offer an easy way to (1) keep the caps free from dirt and dust, (2) display the caps to others and (3) allow the user to easily and conveniently access the individual caps. Moreover, the devices that are on the market are not structurally configured to stack one on top of another.
For example, a lot of devices revolve around some form of hanging rack with hooks for individual caps. However, these systems do not allow the user to store the caps in a compact form nor do they prevent the caps from collecting dust and dirt. Moreover, such a system does little to prevent the caps from falling off of the device onto the floor. Other storage devices consist of specialized hooks that are designed to support the inner surface of the cap racks that emulate shoe racks or trees. These devices suffer the same basic drawbacks that the previously described devices present.
Some of the storage devices on the market do consist of an enclosed structure that protects the cap collection from dust and dirt, but the devices are not sturdy enough to be stacked one on top of another. For example, there are devices consisting essentially of plastic bags with straps that allow the storage device to be hung up on a hook. The bags are usually opened and closed with a zipper or similar structure. This design requires the user to remove the plastic bag from the hook and place it on a flat surface before opening the bag and accessing a cap. Since the bags are flexible, they are not ideal display cases and certainly cannot be effectively stacked one on top of another.
As a result, there is a need for an improved storage device for headwear, caps included, that allows the user to display their collection in a dust and dirt-free environment in devices that can be stacked one on top of another and still allow the user to conveniently access the entire collection.